Video Ad Views Hit All-Time High: 13 Billion

The latest data from the comScore Video Metrix service shows that 182.5 million Americans watched 39.3 billion online content videos in March 2013, while the number of video ad views reached an all-time high at 13.2 billion that month.

In February, 178 million Americans watched 33 billion online content videos, while the number of video ad views reached 9.9 billion that month.

However, there were 31 days in March and 28 days in February. So, the month-to-month comparison isn't apples-to-apples. And comScore introduced three important methodological changes to its estimates with the release of the August 2012 U.S. Video Metrix data, so it isn't possible to do a year-over-year comparison of data that is apples-to-apples, either.

In March 2013, Google sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube, ranked as the top online video content property with 153.9 million unique viewers, followed by Facebook with 63.8 million, VEVO with 52 million, Yahoo sites with 50.3 million, Viacom Digital with 43.8 million, and NDN with 43.1 million.

More than 39 billion video content views occurred during the month, with Google generating the highest number at 12.8 billion and Facebook reaching an all-time high for the second consecutive month with nearly 706 million.

In February 2013, Google/YouTube ranked as the top online video content property with 150.7 million unique viewers, followed by Facebook with 61.2 million, VEVO with 49.5 million, NDN with 46.3 million, Yahoo with 43.6 million, and Viacom Digital with 39.1 million.

More than 33 billion video content views occurred during the month, with Google generating the highest number at 11.3 billion and Facebook reaching its all-time high of 558 million.

So, except for the drop by NDN, the other leading online video content properties are all up month-over month.

Top 10 Video Ad Properties by Video Ads Viewed

In March 2013, Americans viewed a record 13.2 billion video ads, with Google sites ranking first with 2.3 billion ads. BrightRoll Platform came in second with 2.2 billion, followed by Adap.tv with 1.8 billion, LiveRail.com with 1.6 billion and Hulu with 1.6 billion.Time spent watching video ads totaled 5 billion minutes, with BrightRoll Platform delivering the highest duration of video ads at 1.2 billion minutes. Video ads reached 52 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 82 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 66.

In February 2013, Americans viewed 9.9 billion video ads, with Google Sites ranking first with its all-time high of 2.2 billion ads. BrightRoll Video Network came in second with 1.6 billion, followed by Hulu with 1.4 billion, Adap.tv with 1.4 billion and LiveRail.com with 1 billion.

Time spent watching video ads totaled 3.8 billion minutes, with BrightRoll Video Network delivering the highest duration of video ads at 859 million minutes. Video ads reached more than 50 percent of the total U.S. population an average of 63 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 61.

Other notable findings from March 2013 include:

84.5 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.

The duration of the average online content video was 5.6 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.

Video ads accounted for 25.1 percent of all videos viewed and 2.2 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

By comparison, here are the same findings from February 2013:

83.3 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.

The duration of the average online content video was 5.6 minutes, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes.

Video ads accounted for 23 percent of all videos viewed and 2 percent of all minutes spent viewing video online.

So, most of the concern triggered when comScore released last month's data appears to be just a byproduct of February being the shortest month of the year. And in this fast-changing world, a return to normalcy in online video rankings is probably something to celebrate.